Satellite News

It looks increasingly likely that the crash of a Proton-M carrying three GLONASS satellites on 2 June was caused by a lack of thrust, although different reports emphasise different aspects. Meanwhile, the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case over the incident.

Preparations to launch a Proton-M rocket with the Astra-2E satellite aboard have been suspended until the inquiry into yesterday’s Proton-M crash is over. Also: a new video has been posted that shows the launch from a different perspective; the 17-seconds-mystery; and several other updates.

The Russian MKA-PN1 satellite launched last year to map the Arctic has stopped working, Interfax reported citing a space industry source.

Sea Launch AG has announced that the Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) issued its final summary report of findings on 31 May following its review of the investigation into the cause of the failed launch attempt of the IS-27 spacecraft on 31 January 2013.

An anomaly has occurred aboard the U.S. weather…Read more

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Ecuador’s space agency EXA said that its…Read more

At a contact on 14 May 2013, the Kepler spacecraft once again was found in safe mode. It was caused by a reaction wheel that NASA says has permanently failed. With the loss of a second reaction wheel, it’s unlikely that the spacecraft will be able to return to the high pointing accuracy that enables its high-precision photometry. However, no decision has been made to end data collection.